XSPF

XSPF stands for XML Shareable Playlist Format. It is an open, XML-based format for representing multimedia playlists. XSPF is designed to enable easy sharing of playlists among different media players and libraries, with a focus on portability and machine readability.

Origin and standardization: XSPF was developed by the XSPF Project and published as an open standard in the mid-2000s to provide an interoperable, machine-friendly representation of playlists.

Structure: The document is an XML file with the root element <playlist> in the http://xspf.org/ns/0/ namespace and a version attribute (typically version="1"). A playlist may include optional metadata such as <title> and <info>, followed by a mandatory <trackList> that contains one or more <track> entries. Each track describes a media item using elements such as <location> (the URL or path to the file), <title>, <creator>, <album>, and <duration> (in milliseconds), with optional <image> and <annotation> fields.

Extensibility and validation: XSPF supports optional metadata and extensibility through additional elements defined by the specification or through application-specific extensions. The format can be validated against XML schemas or DTDs provided with the specification.

Usage and adoption: XSPF is platform-agnostic and is supported by several open-source media players and libraries. It is used for web-based playlist sharing and as an interchange format where XML-based playlists are preferred over plain text. Its structured, machine-readable design facilitates editing and validation.

See also: M3U, PLS, XML playlists.